Out of the Storm (16 page)

Micah and Jax had been swim buddies so they had become particularly close.  It hadn’t taken them long to discover their mutual kinks and to make friends with Kyle and Kent West.  When they had eventually learned the West’s parents were involved in a poly-relationship, they had barely let Kyle or Kent rest until they’d answered every conceivable question he and Jax had thrown their way.  Kyle had finally thrown his hands in the air one night and declared the topic taboo.  Then they’d laughed it off and invited Jax and Micah to join them after graduation when they traveled to Texas to spend some time with their family.   

Just as Kyle and Kent had promised, their parents were open and straightforward and had patiently answered literally hundreds of questions he and Jax had shot out to them in an almost rapid-fire barrage.  Micah didn’t think you would probably every get the West’s sons to admit how much they had both also learned during those discussions, but he hadn’t missed how attentively the brothers had listened as their parents had explained how difficult it was at times.  Micah had found it particularly interesting that none of their challenges had been from the dynamics within the relationship.  Every problem they’d encountered had been from the judgments of people outside their inner circle of contacts. 

By the time Micah had showered and climbed into bed the sun was just starting to peak over the horizon.  As he settled back, he couldn’t help but think about the little balls-to-the-wall spitfire he’d met earlier this morning.  Gracie Santos was approximately five foot four and her long black hair easily brushed the top of her lush ass.  She wasn’t stick thin, but had large rounded breasts and an ass that look like it had been specifically made for paddling. 
And with her mouth, she is sure to get plenty of those.
When she’d seen him speaking with the building super, Gracie had crowded in and started rapid-firing questions at him and crowding into his personal space until he’d finally wrapped his large hand around her wrist so she would stop shaking her finger at him.  At his touch she had gone instantly silent and dropped her eyes.  He’d felt her pulse start to gallop under his fingertips that were softly pressed against her pulse point.  When he’d told her to look at him, Micah had watched her eyes go wide and realized the zing of electricity he’d felt when his work-roughened fingers had first brushed over her smooth skin had not been one-sided.  The tip of her pink tongue darted out to paint her rose colored lips and it had taken every bit of the control he had learned as a Dom not to push her against the wall in the small hallway and plunder her mouth. 

He had calmly explained to her that Tobi was fine and that he’d be packing up her belongings and taking them to her.  When she had volunteered to help, Micah had been grateful for several reasons.  First of all, she seemed to be a friend of Tobi’s so she was familiar with the lay out of the tiny apartment and knew where to find the most important items quickly.  It had also given him a chance to find out about the man Gracie knew had been causing Tobi problems.  But most importantly, it had given him a chance to spend more time with her.  Each moment had convinced him further that she was very likely the woman he and Jax had dreamed of finding and sharing. 

While Gracie had been in Tobi’s bathroom packing up her medicine cabinet, Micah had programmed his number into her phone and then quickly dialed it so he’d have her number.  He’d pointed out his number to her and asked her to call him if she had any questions or concerns. When he had expressed a concern that Feldman might be a threat to her he’d seen the fear flash in her eyes and had known immediately that she was already afraid of the man who had likely set tonight’s blaze.  When he asked her if Feldman had already been a problem for her, Micah had seen her eyes darting from side-to-side as if she was afraid the man was watching before she’d quickly nodded. 

Laying back and trying to figure out a strategy to introduce Gracie to Jax, Micah found himself lost in the erotic pictures flashing through his mind of her naked flesh pressed in between the two of them.  The fantasy became so hot he could barely resist the temptation to take himself in hand and relieve the raging hard-on he’d had since meeting her.  Reaching for his phone, Micah typed in two quick messages.  The first was to Gracie reminding her to feel free to call him day or night if she had any problems with Feldman.  The second to Jax…
I think I’ve found her.
 

Chapter Thirteen

Tobi had spent the entire week dealing with a thousand questions from a hundred different people.  Each one of them had asked her if she knew of anyone who might want to hurt her and by Friday she was starting to feel like she should be looking over her shoulder at every turn. 

Just as everyone had expected, Tobi had shown up at work on Monday morning and was told she was being laid off due to the economic downturn.

When she’d called Kyle to tell him the news, the only thing he’d said was “Are you okay, kitten?”  She knew he had been worried about her when he’d left her off for work and she doubted he’d gone far. 
Only because you and Kent prepared me for this and I know I won’t be sleeping on the street. 
The small guest cottage they’d given her was perfect and they’d assured her it was hers for as long as she needed it. 

Taking a deep breath, Tobi answered, “Yes…well, I will be as soon as I get out of here.”  Chris Feldman had been in the meeting when she arrived at Austin Gardens and Homes, but he’d been standing in the hallway as she’d carried out the small box of personal items she’d cleared out of her desk. As she’d made her way down the hallway to the elevators that would take her to the exit, she had to pass by his office and he’d made sure he was leaning against the doorframe.  Leaning probably wasn’t a very good description considering the man was almost as round as he was tall and his body completely filled the doorway. 

“Gosh, do I smell smoke?”  His leering and menacing laugh sent a chill up Tobi’s spine.

“I doubt it, I haven’t even been back to my apartment.  But it’s very interesting you would know about that when I didn’t tell anyone here at work.  I’ll make sure to share that with the investigators I’m speaking with later today.”  Tobi knew she shouldn’t provoke him, but he was such an ass that it was difficult to resist. 

“Be careful, Tobi.  That was an awful accident and I’d hate to see anything happen to that hot little number that lives across the hall from you.  On the other hand—where is she moving when that rat hole you lived in closes later this month?  Maybe she’d like to hear about my
rent to own
plan.”  His thinly veiled threat against Gracie terrified Tobi, because she wasn’t sure Gracie would be able to control her temper enough to walk away from a fight with the man she already despised.  Gracie was fiercely loyal and she hated Chris because of the hell he’d put Tobi through, evidently he figured out how close they were.  

Tobi worked hard to school her expression and simply kept walking without responding to his comment.  Kyle had picked her up less than five minutes later.  He’d walked into the lobby as if he’d owned the place, set the box she’d been carrying on the floor, and then pulled her into his arms.  Tobi hadn’t realized how tightly she was wound until she’d felt his strength surround her and that was when the tears started to fall.  She cried silently for several minutes and he simply held her until the storm had passed. 

Kyle always smelled like fresh air and sunshine along with a hint of cologne that was like a whispered promise of wicked nights, and just breathing him in calmed her.  When she finally pulled back a bit, he kissed her forehead.  “Come on, kitten.  Let’s go before I strip you and fuck you right here.  Even though I know we’d both feel better, I’m pretty sure the lady at the reception desk wouldn’t be impressed.” 

Tobi giggled, “Irene?  Are you kidding?  She’d have a video posted to You Tube by the time we pulled out of the parking lot.”  Waving to the elderly woman who’d been one of the few people in the building who had befriended her, she let Kyle lead her from the building. 

After he’d settled her in his truck and fastened her safety belt, Kyle had brushed a kiss over her lips, “That place is now history, kitten.  I don’t want you worrying about that job anymore, do you understand?  I want you to put it out of your mind and focus on your future, because that is where Kent and I are.”  His words had been the perfect end to a job she hadn’t ever been that fond of anyway so she simply nodded her head in agreement. 

Either Kyle or Kent had accompanied her to every appointment she’d had during the rest of the week concerning the fire.  She’d talked to so many detectives their faces were starting to blur together and none of them had appeared terribly interested in helping her until Kent had pulled one of the more blatantly disinterested men out into the hall.  The man had sulked down the hall and returned with a tall blond man with deep blue eyes.  He smiled warmly at Kent as he approached and it was obvious the two men knew each other. 

When Kent stepped back in the small glass enclosed office she’d been waiting in, he’d introduced her, saying “Sweetness, I’d like you to meet Captain Parker Andrews.”  Kent hadn’t told her that Captain Andrews was a member of the club, but the instant he’d turned toward her Tobi had known he was a Dom and dropped her eyes.  She’d been surprised to see his outstretched hand come into her view and she’d blinked at it for several seconds.  Kent had leaned down and whispered against her ear, “Good call, sweetness.  Yes, Master Parker, as he is known at the club, is a Dom.  But right now, he’s the
last
person you are going to have to tell your story to in the police department.”

When she slowly reached out and placed her hand in his, Captain Andrews smiled and shook her hand.  “It’s nice to meet you, Tobi.  I hear you have been getting the run-around and I’m here to put an end to that.”  True to his word he’d listened carefully, ask her questions no one else had thought of and then thanked her politely for her patience.  By the time they’d left the police precinct, Tobi’s body was finally caving in to the exhaustion she’d been battling all week.  She stumbled on the front steps and if Kent hadn’t already had his arm around her, she was certain she would have tumbled to the bottom of the concrete steps. 

“Love, you are supposed to ask for help when you need it.  I’m fairly certain my brother and I have mentioned that a time or two over the past week.  But apparently words aren’t penetrating that rapid fire mind of yours, so I think we’ll see if we can’t find another way to reinforce the lesson this evening.”  His threat of punishment didn’t frighten her and she was certain he knew that it actually upped her arousal level by several degrees.  Kent had helped her to his truck and secured her safety belt before carefully reclining her seat.  “I want you to rest on the way home.”  He must have seen the argument in her eyes because he quickly silenced her with a kiss.  “Love, there are dark circles under your eyes again and you’ve lost weight this week.  What you need to learn right now is that my brother and I will not stand idly by and watch you put yourself in danger, either physically or emotionally.  And before you get all cranky, consider this—we would step in to help any of our friends, not as quickly or with the same
solutions
, but we’d certainly both be
heard,
I promise you.” Tobi wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was right and she just didn’t have the energy in that moment to fight a losing battle so she had just nodded and closed her eyes.

****

Kent watched as Tobi’s eyelids fluttered once and then her long lashes brushed over but didn’t hide the dark purple under her eyes.  He and Kyle had watched her closely all week hoping she would rein herself in and begin taking care of herself.  But she had continued to simply push to the point she’d nearly collapsed on the front steps of the police station.  She’d been sound asleep by the time he’d rounded the truck, opened the driver’s door, and had barely stirred during the entire drive home. 

He knew that she hadn’t called her brother yet and he wondered how long she thought she could delay the confrontation.  Kent didn’t doubt the lawyer with obvious social and political ambitions was going to be none too pleased to find out his younger sister was working for a kink club and living on the grounds.  And when he got wind that she was involved with not one, but both of the club’s owners, Kent suspected the man was probably going to blow a gasket.  They had already prepared for Richard Strobel’s reaction.  They’d asked Micah to find out if the man didn’t have an Achilles heel or two they’d be able to use to “persuade” him to back off any judgment he’d think to express about his sister. 

They had discussed a preemptive strike, but had decided they didn’t want to betray Tobi’s fragile trust by going behind her back to confront her brother.  In Kent’s opinion, the asshole deserved any and all fallout he might get just because he’d left his sister to live in virtual squalor for the past two years.  Despite Micah’s report about the building being a disaster, he’d been impressed that Tobi’s apartment had appeared organized.  Even stating she seemed to be the type to keep a clean apartment because if there was organization, there was cleanliness, even if the looks of it after the fire, most would be hard pressed to tell it.  Kent smiled to himself as he made his way down the highway because Micah Drake was meticulously clean and organized, so his observation about Tobi’s apartment had been one hell of a compliment.   

When Kent had carried her into the elevator she’d shifted in his arms and he’d looked down into clear green eyes that seemed to be trying to bring their surroundings into focus.  “Go back to sleep, sweetness.  I’m going to put you to bed here because I need to get downstairs for a meeting and I want to be sure you rest a bit more.  Kyle will be up in a few minutes to check on you, so you’d better be sleeping when he gets here.” Kent made his way off the elevator and into the bedroom before he thought she had even brought him into focus when he sat her on her feet.